Little Mockingjay
by HGF34567
Summary: The seventy-fourth hunger games told in Rues point of view. This story is different from the hunger games book and has an alternate ending.
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

Rues P.O.V.

I stand in the square and wait in line for my blood to be taken and charted as proof that I'm here. I hand over my finger and slightly jump when I feel a little pinch. My knees feel wobbly like jello as I walk over to the section for twelve year olds.

I'm happy my little sisters aren't here, standing in this square waiting to be called; at least I have something to be happy for. My thoughts are interrupted by our escort calling out, "Welcome! Happy Hunger games! And may the odds be EVER in your favor!" She wobbles along on 6 inch heels and points at the screen. "Before we begin, we have a very special film. Brought to you all the way from the capitol!" The screen shows the same film every year about how our ancestors pretty much doomed things for us. I can hardly pay attention, Iam too scared. It's over. "The time has come to select one courages young man and woman for the honor of representing district eleven…" I tune her out. I don't want to hear it, any of it. All of a sudden I see her reach into the bowl which has my name in it and draw one out. My name is called and I almost faint.

I bravely walk to the stage and take my place next to the escort. I try not to see my little sisters crying and I squeeze my eyes shut. As soon as I know it the boy's name is called and Iam saying goodbye to my family.

My youngest sister, Lily, who is only 4, runs up and hugs me. "No! Don't go Rue!" she cries. I try to stop tears from coming out, but they spill over. "I have to. But I'll be back, I promise. Ok my little Lily?" She nods, still sobbing. I hug my mother and father and say "I'll do my best." I hate how I said it like it was just a test, or a game. "I promise." Soon I've said all I needed to say to them. My best friend Selene comes in crying. "Please. Take my necklace. We made it together, remember?" She whispers. It's made of woven grass and has a carved star on it. "I promise." I say. We hug in silence until she has to go and I wait alone until I must leave. Peacekeepers take me away. I board a car and then the fanciest train I've ever seen.

"Good bye Eleven" I whisper.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Rues P.O.V.

The train is lined with beautiful velvet and is fit for a king. I slowly step inside and take a seat next to Thresh, the boy who was chosen for my district. We vaguely know each other from school and personally, I kinda like Thresh. He defends little kids my age when those older jerks _his_ age pick on us. He is really nice and although he is very muscular, tall, and buff is gentle and quiet. I believe he's around 16 or 18. "It's not very fair. What happened to you, I mean. You're just a little girl, you know?" he rants. He hates the Capitol, and I don't blame him for it. Somehow I think we both know that iam going to die. Iam very tiny and not the strongest, but I can throw a knife. I also am very good with a slingshot. I still don't know if I have a chance. Just then our mentors walk in. "Hello." The woman of the two says. There is an old man and a middle aged looking woman. "Iam Seeder and this is Chaff. As you know, we are your mentors. First things first, shall we watch the reaping?" We all sit on the plush velvet sofa. I have never sat on something so comfy, being very poor. From one there is a tall, pretty, girl who looks deadly serious and a dumb looking boy. He's still a career though, so I shouldn't underestimate him. From 2 is a girl who looks deadly and a boy as muscular as Thresh. Soon we get to our district. I look very small but very brave as I take my place on stage. From 12 there is a girl that stands out in my mind. She isn't very tall and she looks scared, but she volunteered to protect her little sister, I think that is brave enough anyway. The boy is muscular too, (not like Thresh or the boy from Two though) and actually displays real shock, not for the cameras. Seeder shuts off the T.V. "So, what did you think?" she asks quietly. I am first to speak up. "I want to team up with the girl from twelve." I say with no emotion. "Why?" Thresh says. "Didn't you see how she has a little sister to get home to? I bet she would kill to get home to her." He argues. I get annoyed at this. "So do I, though, and I want allies anyway. I have _five_ to get home to, one being only four." They don't talk. Seeder finally nudges a drunken Chaff and says, "I say it's a great idea right Chaff? She might want to protect Rue with her sisterly actions, right?" Chaff nods. "Lets go change and we can eat after." Thresh says. I go to a beautiful bedroom and look in its bathroom. There is a shower that I step into to try to figure out the buttons. I end up being sprayed, massaged, and smelling like roses. At least Im clean. I put on a silky deep green shirt and tight fitting brown pants. There is enough food on the dining table to feed my little sisters for a month. I grab a plate full of a little bit of everything and stuff my face. The food is so good that I can barely slow down to eat. I realized all the fruits and vegetables came from our district alone. This bothers me for some reason. I stop eating and groan because im so full. "Im going to my room." I say and look towards the bedroom car. I lay down and someone manage to sleep. I don't wake until the next morning. I check the clock by my bed.

4:00 AM

I silently change because I know im up early. I guess I am just used to waking up at the earliest hours of the day. I throw on my brown strapless reaping dress and sit waiting until iam called to breakfast. "Rue, you missed dinner yesterday. Plus, you were up rather early." Seeder drones. I stay quiet and eat breakfast. I help myself to seconds as Chaff comes in. He serves himself and sits next to Seeder to eat. It is very quiet in the dining car as if nobody wants to talk. I break the silence by saying, "So what's gonna happen when we get to the Capitol?" Chaff says, "Well, for one, you'll be thrust into the hands of your prep team as soon as we get there. Two, you meet your stylist and since your stylist will decide what you will wear up until the games, don't question them. They know what they're doing. That's all I can say so far." The train goes dark and lights flicker by as the train moves on. Then light floods the car and I dash to the window. I see what has only been seen on a screen at home, the capitol. I stand there and look with wide eyes. I cant believe how majestic this place is. I still hate that I am here, but it is very beautiful. I don't understand this place, so beautiful but so disgusting. How can you sit by and watch kids die but get to live at the top of the world?

I will never know.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

I wince as another strip of cloth is pulled from my leg, yanking out the hair under it. I am practically hairless now. I feel vulnerable as I lay here in the remake center, feeling plucked like a groosling before it is cooked.

My hair is soft, curly and shiny, skin glowing, and nails painted clear. Beauty Base Zero is what my prep team calls it. I am allowed to sit up and put on the sheer silky robe I first wore when I got here. "We are going to get your stylist," Petunia, a member of my prep team chirps. She reminds me of a bird with her chirpy voice and long arms like wings. Her hair is an interesting shade of purple and her skin is ivory colored. She has icy blue eyes and wears long fake pink eyelashes. She is very beautiful and can't be older than 25. They all go out to get Reyna, my stylist.

Reyna is a tall, fair skinned lady who looks warm and motherly. Her hair is a natural shade of brown and she wears little makeup. "Hello." Is all she says. "I'm Reyna. I will be your stylist. Shall we sit and have a chat?" I nod. I notice she lacks a Capitol accent. Hm, weird. We sit in plush leather chairs across from each other. "Are you hungry, Rue?" she asks warmly. I nod. On the table arrives a meal of chicken filled with wonderful sauce. I dig in and she speaks. "So, I design looks for my tributes based on what they look like. To me, you don't look like a warrior, little one. You look like a little fairy or a little mockingjay. Someone with wings, since you are so dainty and pretty. Anyway, that shall be your look the audience always roots for adorable." I giggle.

"Tonight is your tribute parade, and I plan to make you something that resembles you and Thresh, but also your district. Ugh. Well, I am sorry, personally I hate the games themselves, but whatever." No stylist is allowed to speak like this. Aren't we being watched? Reyna seems to not care. I love that about her already. She is treating me like a friend, not a tribute.

But why?

Later, I'm dressed in a puffy top with overalls over. I wear a crown of silver leaves. I look beautiful in minimal makeup and with my hair just smoothed and curled more than usual. I love it. Seeder goes and sees us to our chariot along with Chaff and our stylists. Thresh is dressed in something similar to me, but like a boy version. Reyna says, " Be brave, stand apart, smile. But mostly, good luck little Mockingjay." I smile. We board the chariot and soon I am riding along. I wave and smile, but soon I hear, "Katniss!" "Peeta!" and I look back. The girl and boy from 12 (Katniss and Peeta) are wearing…fire! I know now that I surely want Katniss as an ally. I admire her.

We enter the time where we must hear president snow speak, and then we ride back to the training center/apartment/remake center.

"Quite an impression Rue!" Seeder exclaims. I feel dazzling and proud of myself. It reminds me of the time I climbed my first tree, I felt the same. I was being made fun of because I couldn't reach the top of the trees to pick fruit. The kids laughed and taunted, then finally, I practically flew up the tree like, well, a Mockingjay. I felt how I feel now.

"I told you my little Mockingjay has found her voice." Reyna murmurs. And that is all I need to hear, and I fill up with happiness.

We go to our apartment on the eleventh floor and I marvel at its extravagance. the dining room is bigger than my house. I feel so small in my huge apartment. My room is even better than the dining and living rooms. The bed has a green and white fluffy comforter embroidered with little black birds. A furry black blanket sits at the foot of it all. The room is painted black with black carpet and has one large rectangular window. Never have I known such luxury in my 12 years of life.

I change into jeans and a soft baby blue T-shirt then go to dinner. Dinner consists of honey glazed meat on white rice. There are many other courses to go with this. Thresh is done eating after one course. "Whats up with him?" I ask. Seeder and Chaff shrug.

I finish dinner and go to bed worried.

Tommorow we start to train.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

**(OK, remember this story is different from the hunger games so of course there are going to be things changed and stuff. Thanks for reading!)**

When I wake up the next morning an outfit is hung on the door waiting for me to put on. There is a black and red shirt with the number 11 on it and tight black pants. I put it on and go to breakfast.

It is only 8am and training begins at ten. I serve myself a plate full of eggs, ham, and slices of a pale purple fruit. I cant eat an entire other serving. I'm too nervous. What am I going to do? I pretty much promised myself I wouldn't kill anyone, so I guess weapons training is out. I am talented with a slingshot, but you don't use slingshots to kill each other, do you? I can throw a knife, but not very far or very straight. I guess I'll just learn other things, like what plants I can eat or how to tie a knot or how to do camouflage.

Thresh comes and joins Seeder, Chaff, Reyna, our escort, his stylist and I at breakfast. He is rather late considering its nine. He is dressed similar to me but of course in a version for boys. "So, make sure you don't show your skills, that can give your opponents an advantage over you. What are you two good at?" Seeder asks as we eat.

To be honest, I don't want to tell her that I'm not really great at anything. I cant tell her that, can I? I reply, "Well I can kind of throw a knife, and I'm good with a slingshot." Chaff looks confused. "What do you mean 'kind of'? you either can throw a knife or you cant. And you're making me believe you cant, so can you?" I don't know what to say. I actually hit what I am aiming for fifty percent of the time, so I nod slightly.

Thresh is still quiet. I think our mentors and stylists already know what he will be good at. He is obviously strong and can easily overcome any tribute. Well, maybe not the boy from 2 though. He looked about as tall and as muscular as Thresh, so I really don't know. Plus, he's a career so of course he'll know how to work a weapon. At least he has a chance. I don't have any chance at all.

It's time to go. I walk with Thresh to the elevator. We arrive there and I notice we are a little late. A training consultant, Atala, is already explaining the games and most of everything. Soon it's time to start.

I walk over to the making knots station and start to work. The tributes from 12 walk over to me and I look up from my work. "Hey." I say. "I'm Rue." The girl holds out her hand and introduces herself, "I'm Katniss and this is Peeta"-she points to the boy-"do you mind if we train with you?" she asks. I don't know how her mentor is going to take the fact that she wants me, with no chance, as an ally. But I just nod anyway.

Through the day we visit all the stations that don't have to do with weapons and last is camouflage. Peeta gets an assorted number of muds, berry juices and clay and starts to layer it and swirl patterns on his skin so that his arm looks like a tree trunk.

"I do the cakes, at the bakery I mean." He says. I just stare at his arm while Katniss is busy watching the boy from 2 spear straight through a dummies heart. Its amazing how detailed it is. It looks as if he actually is part of a tree. I add him to my possible ally list.

I look over and I see that Thresh is using a sword very well on different dummies even though Seeder said not to show any skill. The boy and girl from 2 go up to him and he stops training. I see the boy say something to him and Thresh shake his head. They probably wanted him as a career, and I respect that he said no.

Katniss looks over at Peeta's arm. "That's amazing!" she says. I stop looking at Thresh and look at Peetas arm. The way he does it makes it look like sunlight streaming through fallen leaves on a forest floor. It's beautiful and I wonder where he picked that up. The trees in 11 aren't all that pretty, they're just used to grow things anyway. I wonder what 12 looks like if he can mimic this so perfectly.

"It's lovely. If only you could frost someone to death." Katniss says.

I giggle and Katniss gives me a warm smile. I am instantly given the feeling my mom gives me, just an unconditional protective love.

I dismiss the thought. She will have to kill me eventually, and we only just met. Training day one ends and I am ushered back to my floor. "Rue!" Katniss calls. She catches up with me in the elevator. "Hey Rue." She says. I smile as a hello. "You remind me of my little sister, you know that?" she asks. So Seeder was right she will want to protect me. I shake my head. "Katniss?" I ask. She nods as to say , 'what?' "Do you want to be my ally?" she nods and I smile as I reach my floor.

I walk in and rush into my room.

Even though I have an ally, how do I tell her I don't want to kill anybody? I'm really happy she said yes, but really worried she wont want me anymore after I tell her.

I miss home. My mothers smile, fathers hugs, the way Lily looked up to me, and how Selene and I always knew what the other would say before we said it.

I cant do this.

I cry into my pillow and cry myself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

It's the second day of training. I don't want to go at all, especially since today I will have to work with some kind of weapon. And today I must tell Katniss that I can't kill any one, I can hardly kill the food to feed my family.

I wonder if Peeta is my ally, I think as I go to training. Katniss never mentioned him being in the alliance. Would he want to be my ally? He seemed kind and gentle, but some tributes pretend to be that way and reveal a bloodthirsty nature later on. I don't think Peeta would do that though.

I meet up with Katniss and decide not to tell her until later on. The day goes by fast and I actually do work with a knife pretty well. I hit the bulls eye three times and got some dirty looks. I don't care. I'm just happy I can actually work a weapon.

Although, with my slingshot, I actually hit it all the time in the heart, and Katniss smiles proudly at me.

Soon the day is over and the last day of training comes along.

I don't know what I'm going to do for the game makers. I think that I will climb up among the rafters to prove that I can be fast and that being tiny and agile is good. Or I can use a knife or slingshot. I decide to use the climbing, because I've shown I know how to work a weapon (a knife, a slingshot).

And I do. When I arrive in the private training session, I jump from fake tree to tree and climb up on everything. They don't really seem to care. I keep doing this and they are only focused on eating. I decide to leave, considering they hardly knew I was there at all.

One calls my name and I ignore it because I am mad that they didn't acknowledge I was there at all. I run back to the elevator and go to my floor. I storm in the room angrily.

Seeder has confusion on her face. "What did you do?" she asks. I am so mad I tell her anyway. "Well I was showing my skills and no one was even paying attention so I just left!" I yell. "Why? You could get in trouble for this!" she exclaims. "I didn't see the point in staying if no one was even acknowledging my presence! It was like I was in there alone! And how much more harm can they cause me? I'M ALREADY IN THE HUNGER GAMES!" I storm to my room and slam the door. I hate this so much! I just wish I could go home.

I smash things around until I stop being angry and start to cry. I want to go home. I don't want to be turned into the capitols murderer because its greedy people are starved for entertainment. I won't kill anyone. I won't let the Capitol take away the real me.

I get out to go watch my score. I angrily sit down and fold my arms. I probably got a zero anyway. The screen clicks to life and Ceaser Flickerman appears on T.V. He has been the host of the hunger games (along with Claudius Templesmith) for as long as I remember. Then again, I'm not very old. He starts announcing scores. The careers get in an 8-10 score range. The sly looking girl from 5 gets a five. Soon my name and picture appear on the screen with a …

Seven!

I can't believe I got a seven. Maybe I actually was being looked at. My anger is replaced by happiness. "Looks like my little Mockingjay _can _sing." Reyna says. I watch for Thresh's score. He gets a well-respected 10.

I'm proud of him. Back home everyone is probably celebrating and I know I am. Peeta gets an 8 and Katniss gets an 11! I am happy and worried. She did great, but now they will all be after her. I still want to be her ally though.

I can now happily go to bed and sleep peacefully knowing that my score was Ok. I wonder how my family is. Are they happy for me? Are they missing me? Probably some of both.

Tomorrow is the interview night. Reyna must have something pretty huge in store because she seemed very excited when Ceaser Flickerman announced that tomorrow he will appear for the interview. I'm not really that excited considering I have no idea what to say.

I can worry about that tomorrow. I go to sleep.

The next morning I need to train with Seeder and my escort for my interview. I will get 4 hours with each and I choose Seeder first because I need to know my angle. She sits across from me in the living room of the training center apartment. She looks me over a few times and nods. "Well, Rue, this is difficult." She mutters to me. I am confused. "What is?" I ask. "Your angle. I mean, what do we want the audience to see you as? Sly? Sweet? Humble?" she says. I shrug. "We will just go with sweet. I mean, look at you." I don't know what she means and honestly I don't want to know.

Then I work with our escort, whose name I finally learn, Octavia. She puts me in a dress that is long but poofy and teaches me how to walk in heels, which I keep falling in. she sits me down and teaches me to sit properly and how to act properly around Ceaser and the audience. I'm finally done. I can't believe it took the whole day to do this. I wonder what tomorrow will be like.

Reyna is asking me how I feel about all this. I really don't know. At first I was sad, then mad, then scared. Now I just feel weird about everything. About the interview and the games. I should feel like someone who can win. Maybe then I will believe it.

The next morning my prep team is hanging over me as I wake up. They hustle me out of bed and start to get me ready. I am bathed so my skin is glowing and my hair is really soft. They dust glitter over my body to make me look like a fairy. My nails are painted with a soft iridescent clear color. Reyna comes in with my dress. She puts it on me and a hush falls over the room. The dress starts with a blue top piece that is satin-like with puffy sleeves. It is tied at the waist with a shiny blue belt with fake flowers on it. The bottom of it poofs out and is covered over with a material that has more flowers, but these are embroidered. My makeup is only some mascara and clear gloss, and my hair is curled and tied back with bows.

I look beautiful in a sweet sort of way.

In a matter of minutes we are there and I'm hearing my name called out.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

I walk across the stage and take my seat next to Ceaser. I smile warmly at the audience and say hello to Ceaser. "Well, welcome Rue!"-The audience hushes down-"So first of all, I would like to mention that seven in training! Such an amazing score for one so small." He says.

"Thank you, it wasn't very easy to get," I say with a giggle. I remember Seeder saying for me to be sweet. Ceaser laughs in his enthusiastic way. "So, I think we all want to know this; what is going to be your greatest strength in the arena?" he says naturally. I smile, look into the camera, and say, "I'm very hard to catch. And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out." Cesar leans in towards the audience, who has fallen silent because of me, and says, "I wouldn't in a million years." And he really sounds like he means it.

"So, we noticed you have a large family, Rue, one you left behind in eleven. What do you want to say to them?" he says. I think this question over hard. What can I say?

"Don't count me out either, count on me coming home." I say confidently.

Ceaser looks at me kindly and says, "Don't worry, everyone is betting on that. Well, our time is up and it's been a pleasure having you. Thank you!"

I walk off and take my seat. I didn't do too badly after all. Reyna meets me and smiles warmly at me. "That was excellent! Everyone will remember my little Mockingjay now!" I smile back. I love how she treats me as a friend, unlike how the rest of the capitol sees me.

Thresh looks deadly in his interview and only answers questions in one word. Katniss is great and funny at times. The real shocker is Peeta.

Cesar asks him if he has a girl back home, and he says no, hes had a crush on one girl forever. He tells Peeta that if he goes out and wins this thing, she will have to date him. Peeta says winning won't help in his case. And why?

"Because…because she came here with me."

The audience falls silent at this thought. I see Katniss's face on a monitor. She looks confused and angry at Peeta. His interview end and we all walk out. I walk with Katniss until she sees Peeta and she grabs him by the collar and slams him into the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU DON'T TALK TO ME THEN YOU SAY YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON ME? YOU SAY YOU WANT TO TRAIN ALONE!" she yells.

She pushes him down and he lands on a vase. It shatters and cuts his hands. "Katniss!" I scream. I grab her hand and pull her away from the now bleeding Peeta.

"It's OK! Katniss it's fine! He was just trying to get sponsors for you!" I say trying to calm her down. Haymitch, her mentor, comes in. Katniss is red with anger. "THIS WASN'T YOUR IDEA WAS IT?! TURNING ME INTO SOME SORT OF FOOL IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY?!" she lashes out at him and I have to hold her hands to stop her. I have her against the wall because she's not fighting me and she doesn't resist me.

Haymitch explains," he made you look desirable! And you need all the help you can get in that department, sweetheart. Now I can sell the star crossed lovers of district 12." "We are NOT star crossed lovers!" she says. Peeta is pull glass out of his hands and says, "She's just worried about her _boyfriend._"

Katniss glares at him. "I don't have a boyfriend." She coldly says. Peeta glares back. "Whatever. Besides, you didn't say you loved ME." He drones. Her anger fades. She takes in the advantage of this all. She is no longer angry at him, or her mentor.

She grabs my arm, mutters a quick apology to Peeta and takes me to the elevator. "Did you know? "She says. I shake my head. "I'm smarter than the people in the Capitol. I know his motives exactly. And maybe he does love you, but at least you have sponsors. You don't have to love him back, Katniss." She hugs me. "I'm gonna love having you as an ally, you know that?" she says. I nod. Soon I am at my floor. "See you tomorrow?" I ask sweetly. She hugs me again and nods.

I walk in and eat dinner quickly, along with another course, and then desert. I need to eat a lot for tomorrow. I go to bed and fall to sleep as soon as I hit the pillow. I can't stay asleep for long. I fall back into nightmare after nightmare until I decide I've had enough sleep. I walk out onto my balcony and stand to look at the city. It really is marvelous. I get a last glimpse and go back to bed, dreading the next day.

I wonder what awaits me. Will there be trees? A frigid Iceland? A jungle? I can only hope for trees. Katniss and I will do best in those. What I should be worrying about is who's out to get me. But I don't, I just lie in bed and hope for tomorrow to be better than I expect. I find sleep again.

I don't want to die.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

**(Thanks for the great reviews! I just wanted to say thanks!)**

The next morning Reyna has come to see me early, before dawn even. She guides me to the roof of the building and suddenly, out of nowhere, there is a hovercraft appearing to come and collect us. I go up into the hovercraft and a woman comes up to me as I take my seat.

"This is your tracker, Rue. The stiller you are, the more efficiently I can place it." She says.

I sit as still as a statue. She gets a long syringe, grabs my arm, and stabs it into my skin, allowing the tracker to go deep under my forearm. I feel a deep sharp pain and wince as it goes under.

Once this is done, I am then taken to a room where breakfast is laid out. Reyna is retrieved from the roof and is allowed to go in with me as I eat. I can hardly eat, and for once the capitol food tastes like nothing to me. I have to force myself to eat because I know I won't be eating as much as this for a while now. Or ever again…

The ride only lasts thirty minutes at most, and soon we are near the arena. The hovercraft lands and Reyna and I go to the ladder, which leads us to an underground tube. I am supposed to get ready now. I get dressed in a simple brown-ish shirt and dark brown jacket. My pants are simple and tan-ish colored. Reyna hands me a pair of leather boots that are light and are made for running. My outfit says that I will probably be in somewhere where it is cold, considering how heavy this jacket feels.

Reyna pulls my district token from her pocket and places it around my neck. I was so scared I forgot to even grab it or put it on at all. Reyna tells me to move around, to make sure everything fits well enough. It does. There is nothing to do but wait now. Reyna asks me if I want any more food. I don't ask for anything.

I sit there trying to be calm. What am I going to do once I get in the arena? Will Katniss want to join the blood bath or not? I assume she won't anyway and make plans to meet her somewhere else.

A female voice comes on calling me to prepare to launch. I walk over and give Reyna one last hug. "Good luck my little Mockingjay." She says. I walk over to the cylinder and wave a goodbye to Reyna. The tube rises and soon I'm in darkness for a little. I rise into bright sunlight and can only make out trees. At least there are trees.

Claudius Templesmith's voice booms in the arena.

"Let the seventy fourth annual hunger games begin!"

And the ticking of a tock begins as it counts down from 60. I put on my brave face and straighten myself out. I prepare myself to run and look over at Katniss. She nods towards the left, where there is a cluster of trees. I guess that's where we are going to go.

25 seconds left. I try and hide the fact how nervous I am.

15…14…13…

I prepare to dart towards the cluster of trees. Katniss nods at me as a signal to go. She wants me to run and wait for her I guess. I'm not sure at all.

9…8…7…

She has her eyes set on two little backpacks. I shake my head. She doesn't even see.

3…2…1!

The gong sounds and I dart towards the trees to avoid the other tributes. I go in and hide in a tree, waiting for Katniss. She appears with two backpacks. I jump down and take one from her. "Thank you." I say. I hug her as another thank you. She hugs me back for a second then quickly says, "We have to move out." I nod. We walk for a little bit then she gestures to stop. I say, "What's wrong?" I hope we don't have to fight someone right now. This is probably bad if we have to stop and listen. She smiles and laughs a little. "No, we are just going to see what's inside the backpacks." I sit and unzip mine. I pull out a water bottle, some matches, crackers, a sleeping bag, something to clean the water, and to my surprise, a knife. Katniss has the same things as me, except the knife, and she got a first aid kit. I wonder why I got a knife at all.

Katniss looks confused, and then looks around. "We have to go. As in, run." She says. I hurry up and pick up my things. We start to run through the woods and hear footsteps behind us. "Look who we found!" I hear a laughing female voice. I recognize it as the girl from 2.

A knife whizzes by my face. Katniss pulls me along and pushes me towards a tree. I climb up as high as I can. I reach the top. Katniss follows close behind me. I look down at her. Her face has been slashed, obviously by a sword, looking at how deep it is. I gasp and look at the blood trickling down her face. I go down to the branch she is at.

"How did this happen?" I ask quietly. "I was running to get up the tree and the boy from 2 drew out his sword and swung it at my face." She explains. I reach into her backpack and pull out the first aid kid. I get a bandage and try to stop the bleeding. I'm not the best healer, but I know that I should apply pressure to the cut and not expose it.

I look down. There are both from one and two, the girl from 4, and Peeta! Katniss looks down and sees him, then almost falls out of the tree. I see her face change from pain to anger. She scowls down at him. He tries not to look at her.

They all laugh. The boy from 2 says, "You can't stay up there forever, girl on fire." He obviously is trying to make her angry. Peeta has already done that.

The girl from 2 starts to climb the tree. She is actually succeeding! I guess I didn't know how light she was…

Katniss and I climb higher, higher than I hope the girl from 2 (I think her name is Clove, that's what they just called her) can climb.

Just as we think we escaped her, something grabs my ankle and I fall down.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

I stumble down and manage to grab a branch just before I crash down. Clove was the one who pulled me down. I kick at her, trying to get her to loosen her grip on me. She only holds tighter.

I lose my hold on the branch and we fall down.

I land hard on the ground. She pins me to the ground using her feet. "Katniss! You didn't tell us you had a _friend_!" she laughs. I struggle against her. I'm going to die, and only on the first day. I hope Thresh wins so at least my family will benefit out of something.

She holds the knife to my throat. Tears blur my vision, but I refuse to let them spill refuse to let her see me cry. She leans in to me and grabs the knife and traces the knife along my neck.

"Call for Katniss. I dare you."

I am going to die, but its worse that she has to make it slow and painful. The knife cuts into me a little. I tense up at the pain. I manage to roll her off but she's so quick she gets right back on.

"How cute. Look guys, she's actually trying. Give it up 11. You're going to die." She taunts.

The other careers stand watching, waiting for her to make the kill. But only I know it won't come so quick. She takes the knife and cuts my face. "Oops. There goes your pretty face. Wait, you don't have one." She mocks me. She raises the knife to plunge into my heart when something unexpected happens.

Peeta runs up, pushes Clove off of me and holds her back. The other careers are too shocked to do anything about it.

"Run Rue! GO! Get out of here!" he screams.

I run away as fast as I can. Why did Peeta save me?

Katniss catches up with me. "Just another thing I owe Peeta." She mutters. What is the story between Katniss and Peeta? They rarely act like friends but they also act weird towards each other, like if there was a past between them. Maybe there is, I decide to ask Katniss later.

For now I just want to find safety.

**Peeta's POV**

I hold Clove back and scream at Rue to run. Clove kicks me and I still hold on to her until Rue is a safe distance away. I let go and Clove punches me in the face. "What the hell, 12?!" she screams. She kicks me. "What did she do to you Clove?" I ask. I had to save Rue, no doubt about it. I may be a "career" now, but I wasn't going to watch an innocent little girl die like that. I hate being a career, but I have to make sure they stay away from Katniss. Except she hates me now.

I really like her, and I can't let them get to her. They would torture her for sure. All because of a stupid training score. And the parade, where she outshone them. No one deserves to die like that, not even a career.

"It's all one big show, 12, and we have an audience to entertain. Now shut the hell up, or you can kill the girl on fire yourself." Cato says.

I don't like any of them. I don't have a legit reason, but still, do I really need a reason to hate people who just tried to torture a little girl?

I am not gonna let these games change me. I refuse to turn into one of them.

"You know what, why don't you and I have a talk Loverboy?" Cato coldly says to me.

I follow Cato into the clearing. At least if he kills me, I can die knowing I'm not like them.

"You pull something like this again, and you're gonna be the one we, no I, kill. Got it?" he says.

I nod. Somehow I escape that scene unhurt.

"And by the way, I'm making sure that you kill the girl on fire herself Loverboy."

I nod. Somehow I escape that scene unhurt.

"And by the way, I'm making sure that you kill the girl on fire herself Loverboy."

**Big thanks to Epicblonde52! Thanks for the link to my story; I'm glad you love it! Yours is amazing too **** thanks again! If you guys get the chance, check out her story, get out alive, its epic!**


	9. Chapter 9

Ch. 9

Katniss and I run away until we are pretty sure we lost them. "Are you Ok?" she asks, clearly worried. I nod. "Ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." She says while locking me in a hug. She must really care about me then. I decide to ask her about Peeta.

"What's the deal with you and Peeta? I mean, you two…" I trail off. What's to say about her and Peeta?

"I just kind of owe him, a lot… He saved my life, and that's something I can never repay him for. I can't pay money, food, or anything for that. I owe him my life." She says with a hint of sadness on her face. I bet she is very confused now that he just saved my life. I think he isn't how he appears, at all. When I met him I thought that he was just like a career, and when he saved me I became confused.

I guess I don't know him as well as I thought.

"Well we should probably hunt around here. We didn't really eat yesterday." Katniss says. I agree. She sets up some traps and waits in a tree nearby. Soon we have 3 small animals to eat. I'm happy, but I don't know how we'll cook them. We make a little fire and cook them. "Katniss we might get caught, and you don't need another cut." I say quietly. She shrugs. "And if we do?" She asks, but I know she doesn't mean it as a question. I giggle a little and start eating the cooked animal.

Soon we're done and we start to wander off in the opposite direction of the careers. We go very far from our last campsite and soon stop when it gets too hot to walk any longer.

"We should make a camp, we can't go much longer." Katniss says. I nod and we pick a tall tree, which hopefully is TOO tall in case we see Clove, and set up our sleeping bags in it. The night gets very cold right after sunset. I can't sleep it's so cold. Katniss gestures for me to come over. "It's ok to stay here with me if you want. I'm used to sharing a bed anyway." She tells me. So we share the sleeping bag.

The next morning she wakes me up by shaking me violently. "Rue! We have to go!" I look up and see the wall of fire behind her. We quickly unlatch the sleeping bag and jump from the tree. We dart in the opposite direction of the fire and try to outrun it, hardly being able to see beyond a wall of smoke. I knew we had gone too far from the others!

I can barely run without hitting a root, rock, or tree stump. Trees fall in my path, animals scurry for safety, and I try not to let it distract me. I'm lucky I'm small. I can fit through tiny places that the fire hasn't touched. I ignore the aching burning sensation on my left ankle. It spreads to my thigh. I put it out quickly and run.

I had finally outrun it and came to a little stream of water. I clean my burn with water and look at it. It doesn't look bad. The skin isn't burned off or anything. I smile, relieved. But then I realize something. Where's Katniss?

"Katniss!" I loudly say. "Katniss!"

I begin to worry. Then I hear BOOM! And I get even more scared. I look around the area I am in. the fire has stopped by now but the smoke still remains, making it hard to see.

Something glints in the distance. I see shining gold on the forest floor and walk over to see what it is. I get a closer look and gasp. I see the item with a smear of blood on it.

Katniss's golden Mockingjay pin.

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Thank you all so much!**


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

My knees go weak and I feel like throwing up. Where is she and what did they do to her? I know she isn't dead, because if she was, they would have taken the pin back to her district, to her family. Or at least I think they would. She might be hurt somewhere because of the fire and she dropped her pin. Or they left it here, purposely for me to see.

That's probably the case. Should I go and look for her? Well I'd be a pretty bad ally if I didn't. I am about to turn around to go find her when someone puts their hand around my mouth. I scream and thrash but nobody can hear me. I kick behind me again and again but no one even moves. The person hushes me and I still don't recognize the voice.

"Rue! I'm not gonna hurt you!" a male voice says. I realize that the voice belongs to Peeta. I stop thrashing and he releases his hand. "You didn't have to scare me to death!" I angrily say to him as I turn around. I calm down a little. "I'm sorry. But why did you do that? I wouldn't have attacked you or anything. And where's Katniss?" I say.

He looks confused. "Why? What happened to her?" I point towards the pin and he gasps a little. "I don't know. They just left me this pin as like a warning or a message. They're trying to lure me into some sort of trap is my guess." I explain. He nods. "She's not dead then. They would have taken the pin. I guess you're right."

I hold out my hand to him. "I know you're not with the careers anymore. Allies?" I ask. He shakes my hand. "Allies." He agrees. We somehow silently agree to go look for her. We search and search but can't find her at all. Soon it's nighttime. We check the sky to see if she died today. She didn't.

I really do wonder where she is. The careers are probably waiting somewhere for me to go and find her, then they'll attack me. I can't let this go on. I have to find her. At least I have Peeta's help.

"Peeta, we can't stop for the night. We have to find her. If we don't go and find her then they'll just decide to kill her." I say. I think he shakes his head in the darkness. "No, we can't. It's more dangerous at night." he says. I still disagree. "No, they will be expecting us to come at morning. Which is why we have to go now, when they don't expect us." I say. He nods. "Ok then, put these on." He hands me a pair of night vision glasses. I saw the careers with some of these. That's probably where he got them. They also give them out at home for when we have to work through the night.

We set off and search more and more. After finding a splatter of blood on the forest floor, we know she must be close around here. We follow some footsteps that we know the careers left here. When you're a career, you don't have to worry about who's going to follow you.

Soon we come to a riverbed. Nearby there is a formation of rocks that form large caves. I don't know if I should go in here at all. Caves are pretty dark, and I think they'd be darker at night. I start to get nervous about searching in there. But that's probably where they would be hiding her, knowing I'd be too scared to go in.

"Rue, are you OK?" Peeta says. I almost forgot he was here. I clasp his wrist for balance as we climb down sharp rocks. "I'm ok." I assure him. All of a sudden the rocks get steeper and I slip a little. I know we are nearing the mouth of the cave.

It's worse because I know she will be in there.

In a matter of seconds we are in the cave. I look around and see that I am surrounded by careers.

Katniss's POV

I sit deep in the cave, wondering where little Rue is. I haven't heard any more cannons, so I know she's not dead. I think about what she's doing right now. I hope she isn't looking for me. She shouldn't have to risk her life to try to save me. Too many people sacrifice so much for me, and I just wish they wouldn't. I'm not worth that kind of thing.

Even if Rue tried to save me, she couldn't. The careers are guarding the mouth of the cave. She'd be walking right into a trap. Besides, with this wound on my leg, I'd die in a matter of days even if she caught me back.

I just wish they hadn't left the pin there in the forest. That probably scared her to death. Poor Rue. I want her to win now that I can't. Or Peeta, since I found out he wasn't a traitor. Prim could benefit from that at least. I know it's impossible to wish for both.

I check my leg. Blood poisoning. I'll be dead for sure. It's not spreading quickly though, and I have a couple more days.

I hear a scream. A scream only one tribute can make.

Rue.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

Rue's POV

I scream as Clove throws me against the cave wall. She has me pinned with a knife again. She throws a knife, but I move and it bounces against the wall then goes back and hits the boy from one in the chest. Clove scowls at me. "You know what? I think it's about time that I kill you, eleven!" I squirm out of her grip and grab one of the knives that she dropped. I have it against her throat. I don't want to kill her, but now I don't have a choice.

We both wait for the other to make their move and kill, but neither of us moves. The careers cheer Clove on and Peeta silently urges me to kill her. I can't do it though. She releases me slowly. "Kill me then. I bet they'd love to see you do it." She says while pointing at the careers. None of the careers move. I guess they are waiting for me to kill her. "OK then. I will…" I say. Clove is safe because she knows I won't kill her. Even if I wanted to I can't, somehow no matter how hard I try I'll never be able to kill. The thought makes me sad; I need to kill to win.

Clove backs away from me slowly. "You're not going to do it are you? You think you're too good or something? Well fine then." She says with a laugh. Then she leans in and says in a low voice, "Go. Take your allies and go"- she gestures to Katniss in the deep end of the cave and Peeta right there-"Take this as a pass. Look, and if the others ask, I didn't do this for you. If you tell anyone I will hunt you down and kill you. Got it?" I nod. She grabs me by the shirt. "But if I ever see you or your allies again, I will kill you, eleven." She drops me and mouths, 'Go'.

I grab Katniss and Peeta and go. We have a hard time running away since Katniss is injured badly. We stop once we're far enough away. "What happened? Did she let you go?" Katniss asks, doubting me because she knows it impossible that Clove would do that. I shake my head as I remember that Clove told me not to tell anyone. "Well, um… while she was distracted I sent a knife into her arm and got you guys and ran away." I lie. Katniss raises her eyebrows. Peeta just nods and says, "Well we have to get Katniss to safety anyway. Let's go." He picks her up and carries her along.

We find a place that's closed in by bushes that are very tall. It's like a little home in there. It's about as big as the careers cave. Speaking of careers, why did Clove let me go? She said to take it as a pass. A pass? Oh well, at least I'm alive. Maybe Clove isn't that bad after all. Peeta sets her down and she lies down along the ground. She blushes. "Um… thanks for taking me here Peeta…" she says not looking at him. She turns bright red and so does he. I giggle. Peeta looks away and says, "Um… I'm going to go… get some stuff…" and he walks out. I scoot towards Katniss smiling. "Do you have a crush on him?" I say. She turns redder. "Well…" I laugh a little. "Do you?" she smiles. "Ok fine. Y-Yeah. But it's not going to matter because I'm going to die anyway." She stops smiling.

I ask, "Then why did you get so mad when he said he liked you?" she looks at the ground. "I don't know. But I had only started liking him once he took me up on the roof and talked to me before the games." She says quietly. "And now it's not going to matter anyway. Rue I don't think you can treat blood poisoning." She shows me the gash on her leg. It looks extremely infected. I sigh. "You're right." Tears blur my vision. "I don't want you to die." I say through tears. She sits up and hugs me. "It's OK. You'll have Peeta. Oh don't get all worked up over me." She murmurs to calm me down. I still don't want her to die. And she has a little sister that would miss her too. "No, I'm gonna save you I promise." I say. She can't die. She has a family. If she died who would care for them?

She starts to shush me. Soon Peeta walks in carrying the silver bow and arrow that the girl from one, Glimmer had. I gasp at the sight of it. 'Don't ask." Peeta mutters and lies down to sleep. He gives the bow to Katniss and is asleep in seconds. She picks it up and examines it. Twelve arrows are left in perfect condition.

"Rue, you should get some sleep." She says in a low voice. I lay out my sleeping bag and snuggle up into it. I close my eyes but can't sleep. Somehow something feels wrong. I squirm and thrash around. Katniss shushes me again and starts humming. Then I just close my eyes again and this time I do sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

**(Sorry I haven't written in 3 days. I don't really write on weekends because that's when I hang out with my friends and make plans so again, don't expect new chapters on Saturday or Sunday. Sorry and Thank you.)**

When I wake up I notice that Katniss has gotten much worse. She's shivering but when I feel her forehead her temperature is boiling hot. I nudge Peeta up gently. "She got worse," I say to him, worried. He goes over and feels her forehead. His face turns from calm to very worried. He makes her sit up and drink a whole bottle of water then whispers something to her and kisses her on the forehead. Then she falls asleep.

"Peeta what should we do?" I ask him quietly. "I don't know." He replies. "No, not about Katniss, just right now." I say back. He shrugs. I go out of our little hiding spot and start to walk around a bit. I find a groosling and toss a knife at it to kill it. I get it in the neck. When I start to drag it back all of a sudden the forest gets very quiet. I drop it and look around. I put my back to a tree just like I learned to do in the training center in case someone was behind me.

The quiet ends and the forest comes back to life. I breathe a sigh of relief. Who's left to kill me anyway? Last night I saw that both from one died. That pretty much leaves both from 2, one from 5, and both from 11 and 12. Peeta told Katniss and I that Clove and Cato hunt at night so not them. Thresh isn't out to get me so that rules him out. I guess the only one who could be out to kill me right now is the girl from 5.

I lost my groosling while I was running away so I head back empty handed. I sprint back and get back there eventually. Peeta is hugging Katniss when I get there. I raise an eyebrow at them. Then I laugh a little. They notice me and they break apart. "Do you want to be alone?" I say through a giggle. Katniss turns bright red. "No! I mean no…" she says nervously.

I laugh and they turn redder. I go outside again and just wait. Why is everyone in hiding? A knife whizzes by my face. I turn around and stare at the girl from 5. She has reddish hair and an angled face like a fox. That's why Katniss calls her Foxface. She grabs me from behind and pulls me over. She turns me around to face her. "Shush!" she says. She puts a finger to her lips and I stop screaming. "What do you want with me?" I ask with a shaky voice. She shushes me again. She points behind her and I see the girl from 2. I stop struggling. It's not even close to nighttime. Why is she out? I freeze. "Get out of here." She's says while pushing me away. "What about you?" I ask. A knife shoots past us. "Oh fine!" she says and we run away.

"I'm Rue," I introduce myself as we run. "Finch." She says back. We dart past trees and bushes. Every branch seems to be in our way and every thorn wants to trip us. I fall down and Finch quickly grabs my hand and pulls me back up. I have a cut from where I fell on a rock. I brush the dirt away and keep running.

We've been running for some time now, but Clove keeps on trying to catch us. She won't give up this time no matter what. I wonder where Cato is suspiciously. Why would he let Clove go alone when there are 5 tributes (well, minus Katniss) that could kill her? I bet there is some sort of plan happening here. That's most likely true. Either that or he trusts her alone. I don't know. He seems to really care about her.

I don't know how long I can keep this up. My lungs are on fire and my legs are going to give out. I can't run any longer. I start to lead Finch back to my own hiding spot. She falls ahead of me. "Wait up!" I yell. I catch up to her. "Where are you trying to take us?" she asks. "To my hiding-"I say when I realize I'm leading Clove, and possibly Cato, there too. "Never mind. You lead the way." I say.

She goes up ahead again and I follow her through parts of the arena I've never seen before. A meadow, some fields. I'm shocked I didn't find these before; after all, they're in plain sight outside of the trees. Well, I figured it was too dangerous to go out of the safety of the trees. She leads us to a small little cave hidden by trees. We lost Clove by now. We enter the cave.

There's one sleeping bag in the corner of the place. Apples have been stacked in another corner of the cave and some knives and a lone knife blade lie next to them. I guess this is where Finch's hideout is.

She sits on the sleeping bag. "You might have to be here for a little. Clove is still out there, and I'm sure Cato is too. Just stay here until we're sure they're gone. They'll be looking for you around your hiding place anyway, since you did kind of lead them there." She says casually. How did she know where I was taking her? She couldn't have been there before, could she?

Soon it's sunset. I know I will have to stay here overnight so I take off my jacket to use as a pillow. I realize I didn't even ask to stay. I'm about to ask but she waves me off. How smart is this girl? She acts like she knows my every move. Maybe she does, I will never know. I curl up into a ball and fall asleep.

When I wake up sunlight streams through the rocks of the cave. Finch is gone. Maybe she left as a message for me to go too. She doesn't seem like she wants allies. I decide to leave anyway. I bet Katniss and Peeta are worried sick. They didn't hear my cannon so I doubt they think I'm dead. I walk outside and start to head back to our little hiding spot.

I start to sprint until I realize I'm lost. Finch took me too far. I look around for something familiar, someplace I know. I see a cluster of trees that I'm sure we passed through. I start to enter them worried. Anything could be hiding in here, I'm sure.

I walk through always with my back to a tree. I hear a cannon and start to run. I hear footsteps behind me and run away. I look behind me and I see Clove again, alone once again. Where the heck is Cato? I try to duck under all the knives she throws my way. One catches my shoulder. I wince but try to stay calm and keep running. Another scrapes against the back of my neck. I try not to cry out in pain.

I keep running. I hate that this has become like a routine. Be attacked, run, go to safety, leave, run, repeat.

I'm sure she fell way behind when I bump into someone.

The boy from 2.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

I gasp as I run into the boy from 2. He laughs and picks me up by the back of my jacket and holds me in the air. I kick the air and try to fight him off but that only makes it harder on me because he tightens his grip. "Oh look Clove. We found one." He sneers. I kick and fight more and more.

"Aww…look at this one. Promise to let me have this kill?" Clove says with a laugh. Clove opens her jacket and there is an impressive array of knives laid out. She thinks about which one to pick and grabs the deadliest looking one and closes her jacket. "You're gone this time eleven. Don't think you can get away so easy. I told you next time I saw you I'd kill you. Unlucky for you, I don't break my promises." She says with a sickly sweet smile.

They both laugh and I scowl. Cato puts me down and laughs. "Go ahead Clove. Get it over with." He says. She slams hard into me and I tumble down to the ground. I scream and try to her off of me. I am going to die this time. I don't want to die. I have to do something. Katniss needs me. I know what to do to heal her.

The more I struggle, the more they laugh. I fight back tears. I'm sorry. Sorry to Katniss, Peeta, Thresh, my family, my best friend. I'm sorry I'm not going home. My vision starts to blur and I close my eyes. I don't want them to see me cry. No, not at all. They saw the tears though.

"Look Cato, we're making her cry." Clove says with a light laugh. I feel a sharp pain in my chest but I don't open my eyes. She laughs. "Looks like the little Mockingjay can't fly after all." She laughs. Where did she learn of Reyna's nickname for me? Another pain hits my leg. I hear something snap, worried that it's my bone. I feel my wrist go limp. I bet she broke it.

I stop struggling and squeeze my eyes shut. I want it to be quick. I try and knock myself out but she stops me immediately. "Wow. You really thought I'd make this easy on you eleven?" she says quietly and leans into me. I shut my eyes tighter.

She starts to cut into my forehead when I kick her in the stomach and she turns away. I stand up to run away and she pulls me back down. I struggle even more and she laughs. "Stop it. Or maybe I'll let Cato have you…" I stop. That's the worst thing that could happen. The last thing I see is Clove raising her knife and bringing the butt of the knife down on my head hard.

I black out.

When I wake up I'm back in our little hideout with Peeta. I wonder where Katniss is. I try to sit up but my head starts throbbing when I try. Peeta is organizing Katniss's backpack. He sees me awake and passes me a water bottle. I drink the whole thing and notice an ache in my throat. "Where's Katniss?" I try to say with a squeaky, messed up voice. He shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. He hands me her golden Mockingjay pin. "She wanted you to have it." He mutters to me. I take it and pin it on me.

"She said it meant more to you than it did to her."

I nod and sit up, trying to ignore the pain throughout my aching body. He hands me a bag of dried fruit. "You haven't eaten in a couple days." He says. A couple days? What happened? "Peeta…what happened?" I ask quietly so I don't hurt my throat. He sighs. "Do you really want to know?" he asks. He looks really hurt. I hesitate for a minute. Is what happened really that sad? I bet. I still want to know. "No. But I deserve to know. You owe me at least that much." I say. He sighs again.

"Fine. I guess you do deserve that much. Well, Okay. So you know Clove and Cato took you away and tried to kill you. You know that much already. After she knocked you out, she was slowly trying to kill you and Cato was making sure no one could come and rescue you. While that was happening, Katniss was dying. She wanted to stay alive long enough to say good bye to you, but once she heard a cannon, she and I figured it was you, so she let herself fade away. After she died, I had to make sure you were dead or not. I found Clove trying to kill you and Cato gone. So with Clove alone, I was able to save you. All your injuries are from Clove."

I nod. I can't believe Katniss suffered waiting for my good bye. I feel tears blur my vision. I let them fall. I didn't want her to die. I wanted her to win. I let myself cry and just cry myself to sleep.

Prim's P.O.V.

**(She's obviously in twelve, I felt like I needed to show what she was thinking and doing when Katniss died.)**

I sit down on the simple couch in our living room and prepare to watch todays recap of the hunger games. I feel sick as I turn on the little T.V. With Katniss injured, I don't want to watch it. But I have to know what happened to my sister.

The TV clicks on to life. My mother sits on the couch and joins me. We watch rue and finch outrun the careers and watch rue almost die. Then I lean in as it cuts to Katniss and Peeta in their little hideout.

"_I wonder where Rue is." Katniss says. She thrashes around in the sleeping bag, obviously uncomfortable. Peeta scoots over to her and puts his arms around her. She gives him a weird look and blushes. "I don't have much time Peeta. Don't get too attached." She says not letting him see her smile and blush. He frowns. "Do you have to bring that up every second you have left?" he says. She laughs lightly. "No, but I'm just giving you a friendly reminder."_

_He looks at her arms and checks the blood poisoning on them. It has spread up to her elbows. "It'll reach her heart by morning." He mutters sadly. She looks at him. "You can tell me how bad it is. I don't care." She says. He tells her and she looks at him sadly. "I just wish I could have gotten home to Prim." She says._

I lean into my mother's arms. I can't watch this happen, not at all.

_She sadly leans away from him and sits up. She removes her golden Mockingjay pin and hands it to him. "I want Rue to have this." She says to him. Next she takes off her jacket and backpack. "Do what you want with these." She hands them to him and looks him in the eye. "Look, if I don't make it, I want you to do what I say. Tell Rue that the pin meant more to her than it did to me. Tell her I'm sorry that we never got to say goodbye and that she was like another little sister to me." She tells him with sadness in her eyes. "I want you to make it out of here alive. That might make things easier on poor little Prim."_

I start to sob. I bury my face in my mother's shoulder and cry. I don't want to see anymore, so I just turn my ear towards the screen and listen. Nothing will ever make this easier on me. Katniss was wrong.

"_And I don't want you to shed one single tear for me. I'm not worth it." She says, little did she know that she was his whole world. He shakes his head. "You still don't get it, do you? You still don't know the effect you can have." She gives him a confused look and looks into his eyes.  
"Why are you doing this?" she asks with a strong voice._

_He takes her in his arms. "Because."_

_Peeta takes her hand and still having his arms around her, says, "I think I'm in love with you." She smiles. "You're not the only one falling." She looks at him and smiles more and kisses him gently on the lips._

_And she fades away, quicker than he thought she would. _

I get up and out of my mother's arms and start to sob to the point of where I can't breathe. I run to the table and pull her jacket off the back of the chair and put it on. I cry harder. She was so wrong. Peeta winning won't make anything easier on me. I hold buttercup in my arms and rock him. I cry into his matted fur and squeeze my eyes shut. My life is even worse now.

My mother comes along and taps me on the shoulder. I look up at her and she opens her arms. I fall into them and cry. She cries silently.

I remember Katniss telling mom to be strong for me. I'm so relieved she hasn't gone away again. I'm proud of her.

Katniss promised me she would try.

She didn't break her promise.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch. 14

**(Thanks for the faves and follows! If you can, please write a review! I'm trying to write at least every other day now, not on weekends though. Thanks for reading!)**

When I wake up Peeta isn't in our hideout. His backpack is gone and so is his sleeping bag. I am starting to get suspicious. I walk outside and look around a little. He isn't in sight. I start to believe what my suspicions say. He left me.

I should have known he was only in this for Katniss. I also should have realized that nobody truly wanted me for an ally after all. Except maybe Katniss. But Finch, even if she didn't want to work alone, wouldn't stick with me. And Peeta… well, he was only my ally while Katniss was alive.

I walk back into my hideout and realize that Peeta has all the food. Never have I been this mad in my life. How could he abandon me and take all our supplies? Sure, I have my little backpack, but what good will that do?

I start to kick at the wall of the hideout. I feel so abandoned and angry. I stop and try to calm myself. I sit down slowly and stop my hands from shaking. I just lost it. What are the games doing to me?

What happened to the old me? The old me would have come up with a reason why Peeta would have just left. The old me wouldn't have broken down in a fit of anger. I put my head in my hands. I promised myself they wouldn't change me, the capitol I mean. I also promised either Katniss or I would get out alive no matter what. I guess I'm not very good at keeping promises.

The games just change us all I guess.

I walk around outside and find a patch of berries. I know the berries anywhere. We eat them at home all the time. I pick the whole bunch and pop one in my mouth. They have a sweet, tart flavor, like a raspberry.

Eating my favorite berry and going for a walk calmed me down. I put the berries in my backpack and go back to the hideout. I'm not expecting to see who I see in the hideout, sitting there casually.

Peeta.

"Peeta!" I shout. My anger at him returns. "I thought you left me! Where did you go?" he shakes his head dismissively. "Calm down. I didn't know someone as sweet as you could get so angry." He says. I blush. "I still deserve to know where you were." I say. He sighs. "Fine. I went out Ok. I was hunting down Clove and didn't know when or if I'd be back." I get confused.

"Wouldn't Cato be by her side every second? You couldn't hunt her then." I say. He shakes his head.

"Cato's dead."

**(This chapter was really short, I know. But I'm dealing with a lot right now, including writers block, so I didn't want to write a ton today. Chapter 15 will come tomorrow though, lucky for you. Thanks for reading and please review!)**


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

**(I know I said it would come yesterday, but something came up, so I was sort of busy. I know this story is coming to a close, and that makes me kind of sad because I had a lot of fun writing it. I am going to write another HG fanfic after this one, but it's a work in progress right now, so it might take a little time to actually come up to the website. Thanks for reading, please review!)**

I freeze in my tracks. Dead? I guess I haven't been watching the sky well enough in a while. I just want to know how he died, and who else died fighting him. Thresh? Or maybe somehow he was tricked by Finch. There aren't that many possibilities. He is- was- a serious contender.

Before I can open my mouth Peeta is explaining. Well, apparently when Cato wasn't there when Clove was killing me, he was out hunting Finch when he had seen her pass by. Finch led him to Thresh, and Cato and Thresh had a huge fight. Both died. Finch is dead too, but no one knows how she died.

How am I missing so much?

"So-" I start to say. "Yeah. We're in the final three." He finishes for me. I smile a little. I could go home. To my little sisters and my parents and my friends. I could go home and my district would get things out of it too. But that means I would have to kill Peeta. I look over at him. He's arranging our backpacks. What has he really done to me? Nothing. Nothing at all. Besides freak me out a couple times. I mean even if this is the games and you don't need a reason to kill the others I'm not like the others. I do need a reason. If I wanted to kill Clove, I have a great reason. She tried to kill me tons of times and has had it out for me since the games started. Plus, she was kind of the reason why Katniss died.

But then again, if I _wanted_ to kill her, and why don't I?

I look at Peeta again. I can't sit back and wonder which one of us has to kill the other. He wouldn't kill me though. And I wouldn't kill him.

"Peeta. I think maybe it's time we split up. I don't want it to come down to the two of us." I say. "You have a point. Well, I'm going to miss you Rue." He says, pulling me in for a hug. "You were a good little ally." He continues. We break apart and he goes off towards the clearings. I retreat into the hideout. I feel sort of sad. I miss having an ally already.

I unpack my backpack and notice new belongings in it. A ton of dried fruit that wasn't there before. A knife that looks like the ones Clove has. And a slingshot. I silently thank Peeta and wonder what food he got to keep. Then it hits me.

Peeta isn't planning on coming out of here alive. He wants me to get out alive.

I ignore that thought for now and think about what I am going to do. I guess I'll just let what happens happen. I don't hunt people down, and I won't hunt down Clove anyway.

I go outside for a little walk and find myself in a part of the woods I haven't seen before. The day suddenly darkens from noon to black as midnight. Every animal in the forest goes silent and it's as if all the living things in this forest are holding its breath. The night gets super cold all of a sudden and the only light allowing me to see was the huge full moon. I tighten my jacket and shiver a little. What's going on?

A huge wolf mutation pops out at me from nowhere. I scream and run away. More pop out of the ground as I run away. My heart races and my legs seem to want to find every broken stump, every root to trip over. One tackles me as I trip over a rock and stumble to the ground. It snarls and growls at me. I feel its hot breath on my face and I struggle. Claws sink into my arms and it reaches up and scratches my forehead. I wince and crawl out from under it before it can do anymore damage.

Blood runs down my face from my forehead and I can barely take the pain. I am losing a lot of blood and am getting dizzy. The world starts getting fuzzy around the corners but I brush it off and keep running. I decide to go to the cornucopia because the mutts can't climb it.

It feels like I am running forever. Where am I going? I am completely lost. With six mutts on my trail, I seriously doubt I will win now. I am out of breath and my knees are giving out. The blood loss isn't really helping with that. I bring my jacket sleeve up to my face and keep it there to hold in blood. Within minutes the sleeve is soaked. I am nearing the cornucopia because I see a glint of gold gleaming in the distance. I almost sing in relief. The world goes black at the corners and I fight to stay awake.

I soon reach the cornucopia and dart up the sides quickly. The hot, round metal is hard to climb but I fight to get up. I am already fighting hard enough to stay alive. I can't take it anymore. I pinch myself hard to keep the black away from the corners of my eyes.

Adrenaline fills me suddenly. I wake up. For the first time I feel like I have a fighting chance. I wipe the blood away and stand on the cornucopia. Clove tackles me and pins me once again. I slide out from under her and try to get away from her. Peeta joins us on the cornucopia. He is coated in red. A tear in his shirt reveals a large cut. Clove grins at the sight of such an easy target.

Peeta goes towards her and she throws a knife. The knife whizzes past his face and flies off the cornucopia. They are locked in a battle already. I take a closer look at the mutts as their battle rages on. My eyes lock on the one snarling at me that cut me. It has pretty dark fur and grey eyes. I look at it confused. Then I spot one with blonde fur and shocking green eyes. That one was the prettiest of all of them. Then I catch sight of one with darker blonde fur and blue green eyes. I then realize what's so scary about these mutts. They all represent a dead tribute. I shudder. The one that was Katniss hates me. That's ironic.

But their eyes are the scariest. They don't even look like the eyes of a wolf. They look like the tributes actual eyes. I feel like throwing up. Those aren't their real eyes, are they? The thought makes me sick.

Clove and Peeta are in a fierce battle. They are both cut up badly and practically dead. I can't look. My head gets worse and I see blurry. It's like I'm seeing through dirty, scratched, foggy glass. I shiver in the cold. I want to go home. Tears blur my already bad vision. I can barely breathe through the pain of my head.

The fight between them is almost over. I am glad. All of a sudden I hear Peeta scream and look over. Clove knocks him off the cornucopia and he falls down. "No!" I scream. The mutts scramble around him and I slingshot a rock so that he won't have to suffer.

A cannon sounds.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

**(This, sadly, is the final chapter of Little Mockingjay ****. Luckily, I am going to write another fanfic **** so this is not goodbye! Thanks for your continued support and I can't wait to see you as I write my next story, not titled yet. Hopefully it'll be up by tomorrow. Thanks and see you soon!)**

Peeta's cannon sounds and Clove looks at me expectantly, as if she is waiting for me to kill her. She is incredibly hurt, I don't know how she managed to take on Peeta. She stumbles over and hands me her knife. "Do it. I would LOVE to see you do it." She says with a shaky laugh, opening her arms to expose her injured chest. She laughs uneasily. "You already killed Cato, the one I love. So just kill me." Her psycho laugh turns into sobbing. She collapses. She sits up and looks at me with those pretty hazel-green eyes. "I'm dead anyway."

I look at the bloody knife in my hand and shake my head. "No. I can't. As much as I would like to, I just can't do it. No one deserves to die that way." I say. She has tears in her eyes. "Then I'll do it." She laughs like she's crazy. I bet she is now anyway. I won't watch her sit here and kill herself. "Fine! If you want me to…" I grab the knife and prepare to throw it. My head aches and I just want to go home. One throw of this knife and I can do it.

I can't even imagine this knife entering her skin by me. My knees go even shakier. I hesitate for a minute. "You haven't even killed anyone, have you? You're just too good, aren't you?" she says, trying to agitate me into killing her. "When people annoy me I don't kill them." I look her in the eyes and speak up. My world gets blacker around the corners. I have to do this soon. I close my eyes after I aim and throw the knife.

I hear a thud as it hits her square in the temple and a cannon sounds.

"I won…" I mutter, not believing it.

My knees give out and the world goes black.

When I wake up a number of machines are driven into me. I feel the skin on my forehead and notice only a slight scar instead of a gaping cut. I hear only ringing and gasp as under my fingers, the cut vanishes. I feel only empty inside. I don't remember the last hours. All I remember is I won and Clove died. I don't need to remember how.

My skin is soft and free of any injuries. I am dressed in a simple hospital gown and am strapped down to a bed. I must be in the capitol, preparing for my victor's interview. I still can't believe I won. A doctor comes and unstraps me and Reyna walks in. "There's my little Mockingjay." She says, pulling me into a hug. "Come on, we have to get you ready for your interview," she says with a smile. She leads me into a room where a dress in plastic packaging is laid out. A shoebox is also in the room. "Close your eyes." Reyna drones, obviously impatient to see me in my outfit.

I close my eyes and hear packaging being ripped open. I peek a little and see only a soft spot of color. Reyna says with a little excited laugh, "Keep them closed." I feel a silky soft dress slip onto me. I hear the prep team come in and start to do my makeup and hair.

When Reyna tells me to open my eyes, I even gasp at the sight of me. My hair is wavy and soft. It flows down to my back like a waterfall. My makeup makes me look like I'm glowing. I am dressed in a strapless dress that goes down to my ankles. The top part is white with little silver gems sprinkled on it. Then there's a belt in black. The skirt is the most amazing part. It flows down all soft and fluttery and has tons of brilliant colors in soft shades. My shoes are simple silver flats.

"Thank you." Is all I can say.

Soon I am at my interview and am watching the replay of the games. I close my eyes for most parts, like the bloodbath, Katniss dying, Cato and Thresh dying, or Peeta and Clove's deaths. I am on the verge of tears.

When the replay is over Cesar asks me how I felt about winning.

"I can't really describe how I feel. Let's just say I wasn't expecting it."

Even sooner I am on the train to go home. I walk around, impatiently waiting to get home. Reyna soon stops me, looks me in the eyes and says quietly, "You did it." Hearing her say it makes it more believable.

I get home and am presented to my district at the justice building. I stand in front of the district, my district, and smile proudly at them. My family stands in the front row with my friends. I smile wider. I am glad to be home.

I remember I promised to myself I'd do this when I got home. I place three fingers to my lips and bring them out as a sign of respect.

"Our victor from district 11!" the host shouts.


End file.
